Bishop Thomas Tobin of Rhode Island clarified his reasons for denying pro-abortion politicians Communion on Tuesday, noting that such politicians are not forced to be Catholic - but if they choose to, they must then “understand what the Church teaches, accept those teachings, and live that faith.”
“The most important commitment we can make is our faith, because that defines our relationship with God. Nothing is more important than that. And if your job, your profession, your vocation gets in the way of that, you have to quit your job and save your soul,” said Tobin in an appearance on the FOX Network’s “O’Reilly Factor” Tuesday night.
Bishop Tobin has been at the center of controversy after it was revealed that he told the Catholic pro-abortion Rep. Patrick Kennedy (D-RI) in 2007 to refrain from receiving Communion. Kennedy originally sparked the public feud by accusing the Catholic Church of fanning the “flames of dissent and discord” by opposing the pro-abortion House health care bill.
Tobin denied that his decision to ban Rep. Kennedy from Communion was a “punishment.”
“Every Catholic has certain obligations, it means something to say you are a Catholic. No one is forced to be a Catholic,” said the bishop.
“If you choose freely to be a Catholic it means you do certain things, and you believe certain things, and I think all I’m trying to say to Congressman Kennedy and others who might be involved, say: if you’re a Catholic, live up to your faith. Understand what the Church teaches, accept those teachings, and live that faith.”
Tobin also defended the Church’s basic right to intercede in public debate on behalf of universal moral principles.
“If the church, not just the Catholic Church, but the religious community - if we don’t bring these values, this spiritual vision to these discussions, who else will do that?” said Tobin.
The tenor of the interview starkly contrasted with Tobin’s appearance on MSNBC’s “Hardball” with Chris Matthews Monday night, in which the Catholic Matthews lectured the bishop and accused Tobin of using public policy as leverage in getting Kennedy to heed his authority.
See related LifeSiteNews.com coverage:
Catholic League Rebukes MSNBC’s Matthews for ‘Insulting Lecture’ in Bp. Tobin Interview
http://www.lifesitenews.com/ldn/2009/nov/09112409.html
November 26th, 2009 at 12:43 am
The Catholic church is hypocritical on the issue of the death penalty. Life is life. If the result of rape is life, then so is a murderer. At least be consistent. Bishop Tobin’s defense of the Catholic Church’s position on the death penalty was feeble at best. The Church’s position on abortion is tainted by its position on the death penalty. Denying health care to millions of people based on one issue–aboriton–is an anti-life decision. We are caught in a conundrum from which we cannot escape.
November 26th, 2009 at 6:13 am
No, Mr. jpckcmo, the Church is not hypocritical on the issue of the death penalty. Perhaps it’s time to review the Catholic Catechism to see what the Church actually teaches. The Church has always made a clear distinction between the killing of the innocent (abortion, euthanasia) and other matters like war and capital punishment (see CCC #2266-2267). The former are always intrinsically evil. The latter might be opposed to God’s law, or might not, depending on the circumstances. Even Pope John Paul II in “Gospel of Life” does not come down as strongly against state executions as he does the euthanization of the sick in a medical setting, for instance.
As for Bishop Tobin, perhaps he could have come out a bit more forcefully on the matter of capital punishment, but on the other hand, let’s do the numbers. It came as quite a shock to me when I pulled the World Almanac from the shelf and read that, since 1930 (a span of about 80 years) the total number of convicted criminals executed in the ENTIRE U.S. (all 50 states) does not even come to 4,500! To read the press reports you would think the handful of states that still have a death penalty (their numbers continue to shrink) were lining up entire cell-blocks of convicts and machine-gunning them on a weekly basis.
As it is, the reason the perception seems higher is that each execution (be it in Texas, NC, or elsewhere) becomes a very high profile killing, courtesy of a very anti-death penalty mainstream press. (BTW, I am a NC resident, Catholic, and a member of People of Faith Against the Death Penalty.) I have no complaint about the press coverage of executions. However…
Contrast high-profile executions with the manner in which the scores of abortion mills around the country quietly carry out there program of mass murder. Not so much as a bat-squeak out of the local “eyewitness news” channel. One million innocent babies brutally executed over the course of single year is mass murder by any reckoning. And Rhode Island’s beloved Rep. Kennedy is just one of a mob of Catholic lawmakers who serve as willing accomplices, abortion-enablers if you will, in Congress. May God have mercy him and on all their souls.
November 26th, 2009 at 8:51 am
It seems to me that some people will lash out against the Church no matter what.
His excellency Bishop Tobin expressed the Church’s position and the current situation with the honorable Mr. Kennedy in a quite reasonable way to a wide national audience. That’s the kind of action from bishops we need.
May his tribe increase.
November 26th, 2009 at 10:12 am
I put the video of this on our front page. Scroll down on the right side of the home page.
November 26th, 2009 at 2:59 pm
Wow–Mr Matthews bacame completely unhinged; what a rant. GOd bless you, Bishop Tobin!
November 26th, 2009 at 10:16 pm
Happy Thanksgiving! Thank God for the Catholic Church and the Priests and Bishops who are fighting for the Truth. We are in a war zone and they are on the front lines. God bless them and give them strength and encouragement. This is why I Love the Church, they will stand for Christ (as we must all do) in a world falling away to deception. They are the light on the lamp stand in the very heavy darkness of lies.
November 27th, 2009 at 1:18 am
“Denying health care to millions of people based on one issue–aboriton–is an anti-life decision”
If anyone believes this, I suggest they go look at some pictures of aborted babies. You can find them at Priests for Life if you want. Then go read some of the testimonies of women who have aborted their own children and try to experience their pain and regret for an action that can never be undone.
Then decide if you really think abortion should be legal AND that you should be compelled to pay for them through the force of law. Abortion is not just some abstract word or a party platform. Abortion kills human beings and destroys the lives of those involved. Tens of millions.
Through the healing ministry of Christ Jesus, the Church gets to see the carnage wreaked from abortion first-hand. She is exceptionally well-positioned to comment on this matter. Indeed, the Church has a duty before God to do so. God bless Bishop Tobin for not being afraid to go back on TV again to witness to the Truth.
November 28th, 2009 at 6:31 pm
“Denying health care to millions of people based on one issue–aboriton–is an anti-life decision”
How about: hoisting a health care bill upon the populace with the aim of increasing abortion is an anti-life decision. If the authors of this bill are really concerned with health care, why not simply remove abortion from the bill — and provide the health care? Since they do not, one of two things must be true: 1) This is not a health care bill but a bill designed to increase government power; or 2) This is an abortion bill, and health-care is just a smoke screen.
Since, logically speaking, one of those two statements must be true, how about we call the bill what it is: the government-power bill or the abortion bill. Then, perhaps, we can arrive at some clarity.